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Herb Kazzaz
Herb Kazzaz was the creator of ''Horsin' Around'' and a recurring character in ''BoJack Horseman''. His first appearance was in ''Zoës and Zeldas'', in [[Season 1|'Season 1']].''' Physical Appearance Herb was an overweight man with brown hair. In the '''1980s, he had shaggy hair and a beard and mustache. He wore an opened green and orange plaid sport coat over a black shirt, green jeans, and dark blue, light blue, and white sneakers. In the 1990s, Herb's hairline had receded. He was also a bit heavier. He wore a grey collared shirt with flowers on it, tan khakis, and light grey and green sneakers. After getting cancer, Herb was very skinny and had lost all of his hair due to cancer treatments. He wore a long-sleeved medium blue shirt, grey sweatpants, and white slippers. He also has an IV hooked up to his left arm. Personality In the days of ''Horsin' Around'', Herb appeared to be a friendly, upbeat, and supportive person who did believe in everyone on board and did care for them. He was removed from the show after it was revealed that he was gay. BoJack had to stay on the show for the public, figuring that he would be satisfying the millions of people watching. It didn't work out, years later when Herb felt it was a betrayal. While Herb's personality hasn't changed drastically, he has grown deeply bitter towards BoJack. When BoJack comes to visit him, he keeps making jokes about how he stabbed him in the back. He at first says that despite what happened in the past, it was nice to see him again. Unfortunately, when BoJack comes back to apologize, he is not giving BoJack any sympathy or sense of closure—because he understandably finds that the scars he made were too deep, to make better with an apology. Background History Herb Kazzaz was BoJack's former best friend and mentor, as well as an experienced comedian, who created and wrote Horsin' Around. Herb was a comedian in the 1980s who would often perform at a bar in Los Angeles. He met a young comedian named BoJack Horseman while heckling him as he performed. He approached BoJack in the bar, who was initially upset and told him "Get cancer, jerkwad." This foreshadows Herb's rectal cancer later in life. Herb gave him advice, and the two became best friends. They both worked at the bar and performed together. Herb began dating a young doe named Charlotte Moore, who BoJack also became close with. In 1986, Herb pitched to network executives his show, Horsin' Around. Around the same time, Charlotte left for Maine, breaking up with Herb before this. She revealed this news to BoJack, saying she doesn't think she is the person that Herb is looking for. The network picked up Horsin' Around, and Herb wanted BoJack to be the star of the show, to which he accepted. Excited, Herb kissed BoJack, but they both clarified they weren't gay. Herb also gave BoJack a telescope. The show went into production and premiered in 1987. It was initially dismissed as mediocre, but it gained a popular audience and was a huge success. Herb developed healthy relationships with the three main human stars, Joelle Clarke, Bradley Hitler-Smith and Sarah Lynn. However, his relationship with BoJack was strained as BoJack let fame go to his head, becoming narcissistic, alcoholic and depressed. In the early 1990s, Herb was caught having sexual relations with another male. He was widely criticized by the media, who attempted to boycott Horsin' Around. ''Herb was worried about being fired, and admitted his homosexuality to BoJack, and asked him as a friend to threaten to leave if he was fired. BoJack was unsure at first but decided to help Herb because Herb was responsible for his fame in the first place. However, Angela Diaz convinced BoJack that Herb would understand if is he really was his friend, and that if BoJack did leave, he wouldn't be the star he dreamed of being. BoJack stayed on the show until its cancellation in '''1996', not only betraying Herb but cutting off contact with him entirely. Herb was understandably upset and kept in touch with Joelle and Sarah Lynn, but never spoke to BoJack for twenty years after. He did many things in that time, including opening a charity and meeting the president Bill Clinton. He even kept in touch with Charlotte. During the 2000s he was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Season 1 In 2014, BoJack decided to speak to Herb after learning from Sarah Lynn that he had “''ass cancer''." BoJack later gets a phone call from Herb, angrily saying to come to Malibu, where he lives, because he'll be alive tomorrow, after that who knows. He traveled to Malibu, California, where Herb lived, with Diane Nguyen, who was writing his biography. Todd Chavez was also there, but didn't meet Herb because he was left to park the car, and ended up in a subplot with two girls, that referred to themselves as the Celebrity Stealing Club, who were stealing from celebrities. Herb was actually somewhat glad to see his old friend, but understandably, he was still angry and took several jabs at BoJack, making "jokes" about BoJack stabbing him in the back all those years ago. BoJack later apologized to Herb for what he did. Herb didn't forgive BoJack and went on a rant about how he has to live with what he did. He was mad not because BoJack never left the show, but because he completely abandoned him, and he would never forgive him for that. He then commanded BoJack to "Get the '''fuck' out of his house."'' BoJack walked out, before picking up the telescope Herb kept. Herb got mad, and attacked BoJack, they ended up wrestling on the ground. The telescope ends up broken, a possible further symbol for the damaged friendship. Herb then states, "You know what your problem is? You wanna think of yourself as the good guy. Well, I know you better than anyone else and I can tell you, that you're not. In fact, you'd probably sleep a lot better at night if you just admitted to yourself that you're a selfish goddamn coward, who takes whatever he wants, and doesn't give a shit about who he hurts. That's you. That's BoJack Horseman." BoJack claimed he didn't know why he came there, to which Herb replied, "Yeah, you do." Season 2 In 2015, Herb overcomes his cancer but is killed soon after in a car accident. He didn't sustain injuries from the accident itself but had crashed into a truck filled with peanuts to which he was deathly allergic. The episode of Still Broken revolves entirely around the funeral of Herb Kazzaz. Several people attended the funeral, including BoJack, Todd, Joelle, Sarah Lynn, Bradley, Henry Winkler, Mr. Peanutbutter, and Princess Carolyn. Henry used to volunteer with Herb at Habitat For Humanity. Mr. Peanutbutter and Princess Carolyn didn't know Herb personally, but Mr. Peanutbutter was there to network. Princess Carolyn was too, as she wanted to make connections with Herb's famous and influential circle of friends, but as she pretended as though she knew Herb, Mr. Peanutbutter caught her and forced her to tell tales about her friendship with Herb, which didn't exist. She lied about helping orphans with Herb. She made it sound as though she was best friends with Herb. Henry gave her Herb's ashes. Meanwhile, BoJack, Bradley, Sarah Lynn, and Joelle reconnected. They were all annoyed with one another, but when it was revealed Herb was writing a manuscript for a novel, they agreed to look for it. They eventually found out that Henry Winkler took it, but not by any malicious intent, but simply because it was a horrible manuscript. They were hiding it because they didn't want Herb to become a laughingstock. As a way to be respectful to Herb's legacy, they agreed not to publish the book. Season 5 In The Showstopper, Herb appears during BoJack's drug-induced dream, in the musical number ''Don't Stop Dancing 'Til The Curtains Fall'';'' which is sung by Gina Cazador. Season 6 In [[Sunk Cost and All That|''Sunk Cost and All That]], one of the entries BoJack wrote on the whiteboard in reference to his past bad deeds was "Abandoned/wrestled Herb." In ''Xerox of a Xerox'', BoJack drives till he reaches The Laugh Shack. He walks up to a wall by the dumpster and sees an outline of his younger self drawn on the wall. He steps inside of the outline and the scene flashes back to a younger Herb and BoJack back in the 80s where Herb is tracing an outline of BoJack while he stands by the wall. BoJack states he is ready to never do stand up comedy again and he asks Herb if he'll put him in his TV show and Herb reassures him that the network loves him. Herb just goes on to tell him the network needs him to do a screen test as a formality. BoJack questions why he has to do it and Heb asks if he thinks he's too good for it. BoJack says it's fine. Herb then tells BoJack to hold still so he can finish drawing the outline. He says BoJack may never get a star on the walk of fame or a wax statue but this way he'll be immortalized forever. In ''Angela'', there is a flashback from the 90s. Angela meets with Herb and tells him they are trying to sell the network to Disney. Herb then asks if Michael Eisner really cares about who he goes to bed with. Angela then tells him "We don't need to bring Eisner into this. Obviously, Michael Eisner is a compassionate and progressive individual. This isn't about him." ''Herb then tells Angela to tell him he's fired if he's fired. Angela then tells Herb he's fired. Angela then tells him all they need is The Horse. Herb replies by saying if Angela wants BoJack to betray him she's going to need a good pitch. Angela then says OK to this. In [[The View from Halfway Down|''The View from Halfway Down]], BoJack has a dream he is at a dinner party. In the living room, the other dinner party guests are other people who have predeceased BoJack; Herb Kazzaz, Sarah Lynn, Zach Braff, Corduroy Jackson Jackson, Crackerjack Sugarman, and Beatrice Horseman. Memorable Quotes * "I'm not gonna give you closure. You don't get that. You have to live with the shitty thing you did for the rest of your life. You have to know that it's never, ever going to be okay! I'm dying! I'm not gonna feel better! And I'm not gonna be your prop so you can feel better! Do you know what it was like for me? I had nobody. Everybody left! I knew all those showbiz phonies would turn on me, sure. But you? I don't care about the job! I did fine! I had a good life, but what I needed then was... a friend. And you abandoned me. And I will never forgive you for that. Now get the fuck out of my house!" ---- * "You know what your problem is? You want to think of yourself as the good guy. Well, I know you better than anyone, and I can tell you that you're not. In fact, you'd probably sleep a lot better at night if you just admitted to yourself that you're a selfish goddamn coward who just takes whatever he wants and doesn't give a shit about who he hurts. That's you. That's BoJack Horseman." ---- Trivia *When BoJack first meets Herb, he tells him "Get cancer, jerkwad!" Later on Herb gets terminal rectal cancer. *Herb's closet homosexuality is hinted at by Charlotte's statement: "I don't think I'm the person Herb's looking for," ''a mere scene before Herb steals a kiss from BoJack at Griffith Park. **It is possible Herb was bisexual, as he dated Charlotte, although that could have been a cover to throw people off, or he was unsure of his sexuality at the time. *In ''Sabrina's Christmas Wish it is also shown that Herb does the voice of Mr. Liberatore, the Horse's boss in the sitcom, Horsin' Around. *'Herb' is the first of five characters to use the word "fuck." The other four are Charlotte in Season 2, Todd in Season 3, BoJack himself (he planned to say it to Beatrice) in Season 4, Gina in Season 5, and Gina's Co-star in Season 6. The writers have a rule which is that this word can be used only once per season and only when a character's relationship with BoJack is permanently ruined. **Out of the five ruined relationships, only the one between Todd and BoJack appears to have a chance of improving, as BoJack is among the first few people to whom Todd willingly discloses his asexuality. At the dinner scene in ''The View from Halfway Down'', most of the characters are given meals that represent the respective circumstances of their deaths * Herb eats a bowl of peanuts, as it was ultimately an allergic reaction to peanuts that caused his death. Image Gallery Herb_Kazzaz_001.jpg|Herb during the successful run of Horsin' Around Herb_Kazzaz_cancer_001.png|A terminally ill, cancer-stricken Herb Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Humans Category:Deceased Category:Recurring characters Category:LGBTQ Characters